Russia-EU relations have come full circle since the 1990 Paris Charter. This Charter represented the equivalent of what we called the “End of History”, after the fall of the Berlin Wall. https://www.eudebates.tv/debates/eu-policies/enlargement-and-foreign-affairs/josep-borrell-landed-in-brussels-criticism-over-visit-to-russia/ The vision of a common space from Lisbon to Vladivostok has not materialised, and Russia has not fulfilled the expectation of becoming a modern democracy.

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Instead, there is a deep disappointment, and growing mistrust between the European Union and Russia.

Many of the traditional pillars of Russia-European relations are giving way. Conflicts in Ukraine, the situation in the South Caucasus and Moldova/Transnistria are fueling EU-Russia tensions but they are also their product. Belarus also.

The Russian economic ties with Europe have been severely hit by sanctions. Energy shipments, that have been for decades the backbone of the strategic relationship between Moscow and Europe, will be deeply affected by the “greening” of the world economy. Maybe during our discussions we can come back to this issue.

Political dialogue has come to a standstill since the 2014 conflict in Ukraine. Since then, the Russian economy has been shrinking. Today the GPD per capita is 30% less and the adversity of the present political climate makes values and principles a sore point once again.

Then, there is the Navalny case. It is in this context that I decided to travel to Moscow last week. The purpose of the visit was twofold. First, to convey, eye to eye, face to face, the European Union’s position on matters of concern to us: human rights, political freedoms and the situation of Mr [Alexei] Navalny. This I did and they [the Russian authorities] did not appreciate [it]: the case of Alexei Navalny was at the centre of my tense exchange with Minister [for Foreign Affairs or Russia, Sergei] Lavrov.

Second, as part of the preparation of the discussion of the next European Council on [EU-]Russia relations – scheduled for March - I also wanted to test if the Russian authorities are interested in a serious attempt to reverse the deterioration of our relations and seize the opportunity to have a more constructive dialogue. The answer has been clear: No, they are not. They are not if we continue to put the political situation and human rights issues in the package. But human rights are part of our DNA; we cannot refuse to talk about it.

My visit included consultations with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meetings with civil society representatives, think tankers and representatives of European business, journalists and a number of European Union Ambassadors. I also paid tribute to Boris Nemtsov who was murdered six years ago, shot dead on a bridge near the Kremlin. His tragic assassination - never clarified - was a warning of what we are seeing now.